For a little over 12 months now, our team here at The Blue Crew News has endeavored to, as Rod Serling might have said, …go beyond what is known and unknown to enhance the umpire experience. In this month’s edition, it is my sincere pleasure to introduce you to what I think will become a very popular feature of the association’s newsletter, “The President’s Roundtable”.
We’re in the early stages with this, and I’m sure Aaron Boone would be pleased to know we are figuring it out and getting better. This is, after all, 2026, and while all of us here at The Blue Crew News know you have enjoyed our written content and will continue to do so for years to come, a multimedia audio/visual presentation, like “The President’s Roundtable,” enables us to expand our means of communicating with you.
Brothers, culture matters. Our association’s culture matters. From the time Arbiter opens up for blocking (sorry, Chris Williams…I meant “unblocking”, of course) until we get the assignment and all the way through to the post-game, there is a right way and a wrong way to do things. Some of those things, like adjudicating the strike zone, take skill that takes time and hard work to develop. But a lot of those things really come down to the individual umpire simply making a conscious decision, considering all the other personal, outside-baseball forces in our lives: how can we help contribute to and exemplify the hallmarks of NVBUA’s culture and pass that on to our newest members?
Well, brothers…President Maher and his special guests on our inaugural episode of “The President’s Roundtable” will discuss that and more. We hope you enjoy the discussion, and if you have suggestions for future episodes of Dave’s discussions, please contact us anytime at [email protected].
~Robert Fobian
Editor, The Blue Crew News
P.S. What kind of umpire might Rod Serling have been? “Coach, there’s a signpost up ahead…if you continue, you’ll be entering…The Ejection Zone.”
